Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2021: Week 34

Brontë Fandom is the term given to the fandom of the works authored by sisters Charlotte, Emily & Anne Brontë, three celebrated literary figures from the Victorian age (for more on their lives, see Brontë Sisters). Their most popular works, and thus the most popular subjects of fan attention, are their novels, but Brontë fandom also extends to appreciation of other writings by the sisters, such as their poetry and their childhood stories; and also to the sisters' lives and relationships with their family.

Brontë fandom dates back as far as the 1850s, and has resurged at various points with the publication of different materials, or as editions of their works have become more widely available. Many of the Brontës' most famous novels (such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights) have been adapted across a range of different media, spawning fandoms for the individual works as well as bringing the sisters and their lives to the attention of new fans.

In 2016, the Brontë family and their story received renewed attention due to the bicentennial of Charlotte Brontë's birth. Judith Shulevitz, writing for the Atlantic, commented on the frenzied intensity of interest in the Brontës' lives and works: "I see no reason not to consider the Brontë cult a religion."